Civil unions in Sweden

Registered partnership was granted in Sweden in 1995. Sweden was the third country to legalise same-sex unions, after Denmark and Norway.

The Registered Partnership Act grants full range of protections, responsibilities and benefits as marriage, including adoption and arrangements for the breakdown of the relationship. Only available to same-sex couples. Same-sex registered partners can adopt jointly. In vitro fertilisation for lesbian couples was allowed in 2005.

The main distinction between registered partnership and marriage is that they are covered by separate laws, and that same-sex partnerships are a civil matter and cannot be conducted through the church authority (although the Church of Sweden recently approved a ceremony to bless same-sex partnerships). Many people have complained about this inequality, asking for a gender-neutral marriage law. Many would even like a gender-neutral marriage that would conducted solely by the state, as is done in several other countries,rather than the current system in which churches have the authority to (legally) marry people, because this would further the separation of church and state.

In Swedish society, same-sex partnerships are generally considered to be on an equal plane as heterosexual marriage, and the phrase "gifta sig" which means to get married is commonly used by same-sex couples.

Sweden also has a separate and more limited Domestic Partnership Act for both unmarried/unregistered heterosexual and homosexual couples. From 1988 to 2003, there were two different laws, one for opposite-sex couples and one for same-sex couples, which now is united into one single law. Domestic partnership is open to non-Swedes, which means that one does not have to be married to move to Sweden to live with one's partner.

In 2004, the Parliament instituted a committee to look into the possibility of opening marriage to same-sex partners. At present, five out of seven political parties of the national parliament are in favour of such a reform. These are the Left Party, the Greens, the Social Democrats, the liberal Peoples Party and the Centre Party. The Christian Democrats oppose the idea, while the conservative/liberal Moderates have yet to address the issue. The great majority of Swedes approve of same-sex marriage, but there has been some strong opposition from religious organisations and other so called "family-oriented" groups. Many have complained about the slowly advancing governmental process of changing partnership into marriage, especially as the two types of unions are already essentially the same and many consider the change inevitable and natural. They say there is no validity in the argument that same-sex marriage would threaten traditional marriage, because a gender-neutral marriage would have no greater impact on society than the current law, which notably had a positive impact on marriage rates among heterosexuals in Sweden. It is simply a matter of principle and equality. For the opposition, they see it as a threat to the symbolic value of marriage, but it can be argued that in a highly secular and modern society like Sweden this is not relevant. It is hardly surprising, considering Swedish government and society, that the Swedish government would choose to open up an investigation (utredning) on the issue of same-sex marriage, rather than legalising it quickly as in other countries, as Swedes tend to be meticulous and cautious, often favouring a lengthy discussion and decision-making process, to make sure everything is done right. But it is predicted that Sweden may create a gender-neutral marriage law within the next few years, especially since the Social Democrats recently approved legalising gender-neutral marriage during their congress last year.

Donate to Wikimedia